A/N: This fic is completely new as I never got around to publishing it on my first account.
This twisted little drabble popped into my head during a furious bout of Super Smash Bros at 2:30 a.m. I had just defeated poor Zelda/Sheik with his special Triforce whoopin' when I got to thinking, 'Gee, I wonder what would happen if Link was being controlled by his greed to possess the entire Triforce..?' Amazing what sleep deprivation will do to you.
All They Need
"Princess, we must leave now!"
So easily dismissed was the urgency in her guardian's voice. Maybe it's because it was him and not Ganon, but Zelda found it impossible to think straight in any case, much less flee.
"Do you think it's my fault?" she asked after a time.
"Your highness, with all due respect...we have no time for this! Now please...let us go!"
Impa had taken to her arm, trying to steer her in the direction of the western turrets.
"Go where?" she asked coldly, wrenching her arm from her guardian's grasp. "Tell me where we can go that he will not follow. What is safe anymore?"
"I don't know...Somewhere, anywhere besides this castle!"
In the castle's archway behind their spot on the bridge, a loud ruckus was taking place. There was the unmistakable clang of a sword connecting with stone followed by the surprised squawk of a soldier. No doubt, the man was dead now.
"Zelda, I'm begging you-!"
"Go then. It's me he wants. If you escape now, it's doubtful he'll follow," and then quieter, as if to herself, "perhaps this is what the goddess has destined..."
"This is nothing of the goddess's will! He is an abomination, defiling the Triforce itself!"
She had a point, Zelda conceded mentally. The ancient relic had always consisted of three separate yet equal parts: power, courage, and wisdom. What Link had done...it defied the Triforce's very nature. To possess all three gifts gave the single Bearer unspeakable control.
The entire castle went still, and so did the princess's musings. This ominous new silence could only mean that the resistance had fallen and gave way to only one victor. A victor she knew intimately.
"I'll die defending you," Impa said, all traces of panic gone. "I'd advise you to take advantage of my death and run as far away as you can. Seek shelter with one of Hyrule's allies."
Zelda acknowledged her with a placid smile. "You know I will not abandon my castle or kingdom. Neither will I condemn more people to my fate. My time is up."
Standing at the other end of the bridge, silhouetted by the inconstant flickering of the torches behind him, stood a warrior in a tunic that used to symbolize heroism.
Impa tensed, immediately taking a defensive stance in front of her charge.
"Link, I will kill you should you come any closer!"
The figure blithely ignored the warning and gained pace as he drew nearer.
The Sheikah unsheathed her dagger-
-and was blindsided not from the front but the back-
An uncharacteristic shriek of surprise!
Link's deadly blade split the air-
-missing the falling Sheikah by a mere second as she toppled over the bridge's side.
Zelda did not regret her decision. Impa was safe now. She was not so lucky.
"Hello, Link."
He didn't return her greeting. Instead extending his left hand, cold fingers finding purchase on her slim waist and drawing her in. The irony was not lost on Zelda as she thought about how this might appear to an onlooker. Like nothing more than two good friends embracing. Of course, an onlooker wouldn't be able to see how the man's tunic and blade were bloodsoaked or the evidence of madness in eyes that used to be blue...
"Zelda," he breathed, "I've finally got you."
She traced tremulous fingers under the damp fringe of his blonde hair. A hiss escaped pale lips, his grip on her tight enough to bruise, and when they locked eyes it was with a new, feverish intensity.
"Do you feel it?" he asked gruffly.
Zelda felt for the first time a flicker of the fear that'd eluded her until now. There was a faint tugging in her right hand. Doubtlessly her wisdom longed to be reconnected with its sisters.
Link dragged his nose along the exposed column of her neck.
Then his blade pierced her middle and she screamed in pain. He craned her neck around and met her trembling lips with his own in an otherwise chaste kiss...
Nevertheless, Zelda felt herself sink into it, felt her energy seeping into him in a union more intimate than that shared between husband and wife.
"Link..." she whispered, a death rattle.
"Shh," he looped his arm about her waist, gently rocking her in a twisted semblance of a dance.
"Link, I-" she choked on a stream of her own blood.
"Shh, shhh," he soothed against her hair.
"Link, I-I forgive you!"
Her breath came in high pitched gasps. Death was so close, not even Link's rapidly rising body heat could stop her trembling.
"It's better this way," he muttered.
Zelda's eyes fixed on the mountains in the distance as she began to slip away.
Her knees gave out, but Link didn't let her fall. He was glowing an odd gold, shimmering in her dim vision as he cradled her against his chest.
"Link, you-you ha-to..."
"Hm?"
"...free..."
Then she went limp, and Hyrule (unbeknownst to its people) was without a princess.
"NOOooo!"
Link dropped the dead girl in his arms and turned to face the newly-recovered Impa, sword drawn.
"What you have you done, you monster?!"
He didn't answer, stunned that nobody could see except him.
With all three Triforce parts flowing freely through his veins, Link couldn't fathom the horror in Impa's eyes. Didn't she see? With his possession of the entire Triforce, Hyrule was no longer in need of a wise princess or a pesky Gerudo king.
It had its hero at last.
The only hero Hyrule would ever need.